| SPOILER WARNING! this article may contain major plot or ending details |
- If, by chance, Red is being held captive by some unknown force… I will free him!
- —Yellow
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SpecialShipping is the het ship between Red and Yellow from the Pokémon Adventures manga.
Canon[]
Red and Yellow first meet in Viridian Forest, where Yellow finds herself lost and gets attacked by a wild Dratini. Red gets Yellow out of the way while his Venusaur uses Vine Whip to restrain and defeat the Dratini. Red tells her to be more careful when she’s out in the forest and asks her if she’s okay. Yellow seems intimidated by Venusaur, asking if it belongs to him, and Red reassures her that it’s a gentle Pokémon. Yellow calls Red lucky and says that she wishes that she had a friend like Venusaur. Learning that she doesn’t have a Pokémon of her own, Red lends her his Pikachu so that she can defeat and capture a wild Rattata for herself.
Two years after the two meet, Red ends up going missing. Yellow becomes indirectly involved with him when Green hires her to help track him down. She battles Professor Oak to take Red's pikachu, Pika, along with her. Professor Oak winds up entrusting her with Red's pokedex. With the help of several of Red's old associates, Yellow and Pika are able to evade capture from the Elite Four and eventually defeat them. Later, when Blue appears and mentors her, Yellow memorizes all of the pokedex entries in the dex Red previously owned.
When Red and Yellow met again at last, he is the only one who still believes that Yellow is a boy. Yellow is the one who returns Pika to him. One year later, Yellow is asked by her uncle, Wilton, to accompany him to the Johto region in order to investigate Lugia. Red is also asked to go along with them, but due to the injuries he sustained from Lorelei's ice cuffs, he is unable to do so. Instead, Red leaves Pika in her possession once again. Yellow's own pikachu, Chuchu, gains a crush on Pika shortly after the two meet. Later on, Pika and Chuchu have a child, Pibu, the species of which Yellow names pichu after its parents.
Later on, Misty attempts to have a phone call with Erika in order to report to her. However, as Erika had given her pokegear to Red, he ends up being the one who answers. Misty is quite relieved to hear him, although Yellow is worried when she listens to their call, wondering why Red is so nervous. Green is privy to the fact that both girls have feelings for Red and teases them by saying they should all live together as a trio. This makes Red, Misty, and Yellow all flustered.
Yellow and Red meet again when she sees him fighting against Giovanni, both using legendary pokemon. She calls out to him, and he's surprised when he sees her. However, she gets distracted by Deoxys, who's able to tell her via her telepathy that it believes it's Red. Soon after, the airship where the battle was being hosted on is due to explode. Red enlists Yellow's help in stopping this from happening. Due to the energy that she exerted in reading Deoxys's mind, Yellow starts to become drowsy. Red is able to get her and the legendary pokemon safely to the ground.
Red starts to walk away, but Yellow grabs his finger with a fishing rod so she can finish telling him about Deoxys. She explains that Giovanni used some of Red's blood to create the deoxys, so it considers Red its relative. Soon after, Yellow falls through a black hole, leaving only her hat behind. She remains unconscious for the rest of the arc due to how much energy she had expended. Red, Green, and Blue had all received upgraded pokedexes previously, though Green and Blue's original ones got destroyed. Red, who is the only one with his old copy still intact, gifts it to Yellow, officially making her a dex holder.
Quotes[]
- “If, by chance, Red is being held captive by some unknown force… I will free him!”
- — Yellow to Professor Oak about Red, Chapter 42
- “To save Red… I will learn whatever I have to!!”
- — Yellow to Blue about Red, Chapter 49
- “I gained a lot of confidence training with Blue. When I get to Vermilion City, maybe I will finally be bold enough to team up with him… with Red!”
- — Yellow, Chapter 57
- “The boy who saved me… is in trouble?!”
- — Yellow about Red (flashback), Chapter 83
- “The battle’s over. Great job, Yellow! Thanks for everything!”
- — Red, Chapter 90
- Yellow – “Red, are you…?!”
- Red – “I’m okay! Stay back, Yellow!!”
- — Chapter 116
Fanon[]
SpecialShipping is one of the most popular ships from the Pokémon Adventures manga due to its many moments and semi-canon nature, with Yellow having confirmed romantic feelings for Red. There are a sizeable amount of fans who feel that Red also has feelings for Yellow or that SpecialShipping is the most likely option for the characters. The wholesome nature of their ship alongside Yellow's attempts to rescue Red also add to its popularity. There are also some people who point out that their pokemon, Pika and Chuchu, wound up having a romance and even a child together, which some feel is a reflection of Red and Yellow's relationship.
They are mostly rivaled by NamelessShipping (Red x Blue) and LuckyShipping (Red x Green) on Red's side but also smaller ships like FeelingShipping (Yellow x Blue), JadeShipping (Yellow x Green), and ViridianShipping (Yellow x Silver) on Yellow's side. However, some fans also like to ship Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow in a poly relationship, which is known as ColorfulShipping. SpecialShipping is commonly shipped in tandem with OldRivalShipping (Blue x Green).
On AO3, SpecialShipping currently has over 160 works, making it the most written ship for Yellow and the second most written ship for Red.
As of October 2025, SpecialShipping has 2.6k works on DeviantArt and over 1.5k works on Pixiv.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Red/Yellow tag on AO3
- Red & Yellow tag on AO3
- PIXIV
- レイエ tag on Pixiv
- specialshipping tag on Pixiv
- TUMBLR
- specialshipping tag on Tumblr
- Red x Yellow tag on Tumblr
- レイエ posts on Twitter
- specialshipping posts on Twitter
Trivia[]
- Both Red and Yellow’s birthdays have the number of the day coincide with the number of the month, with Red’s being August 8 (8/8) and Yellow’s being March 3 (3/3).
- In a birthday comic for Yellow that Satoshi Yamamoto (Pokémon Adventures Artist) posted on Twitter, Red expresses embarrassment over seeing Ruby and Sapphire holding hands. Yellow then imagines a scenario where she holds hands with Red. She also appears to consider telling Red how she feels about him but abandons the idea.[2]
Gallery[]
- Main article: SpecialShipping/Gallery
